Rick Hendrick went out on a little bit of a limb in January when he said he would be disappointed if all four of his drivers didn’t qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

As the season evolved and it appeared at least one of his drivers wouldn’t make the Chase, he wasn’t sure he had said the right thing.

“I almost thought I said too much,” Hendrick said prior to the Chase opener Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Jeff Gordon appeared to be on the outside looking in at Richmond as he had an ill-handling car when the regular-season finale started, but then he mounted an incredible comeback to get one of the wild-card spots along with Kasey Kahne.

Kahne wasn’t in danger of missing the Chase at Richmond, but a slow start in the season had his team scrambling throughout the summer as they not only had to battle Gordon but Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards for those wild-card spots.

Hendrick said he was surprised at the impact of his January statement and that he didn’t mean to put extra pressure on his teams. Five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson earned an automatic spot by finishing the regular season in the top 10 in points, as did Dale Earnhardt Jr. Gordon and Kahne snuck in as wild-cards.

“I didn’t realize (the impact); I think because I never say much, I don’t ever predict much and because I said I’d be disappointed if we didn’t get them all in the Chase and (now) I’ve been reading what Jeff said that they can all take a breath because they didn’t want to be the guy (that missed),” Hendrick said.

“I just felt that strong about our four teams. Everybody is really proud it’s the first time we’ve done it.”

Hendrick felt that strong because he liked the chemistry of his drivers and crew chiefs as well as the arrival of Kahne along with crew chief Kenny Francis.

“When you’re that confident, you forget that some other teams like Michael Waltrip and (others) are really running good,” Hendrick said about the prediction.

“I’ve been real pleased this year. We’ve had the speed. We should have a lot more race wins than we’ve had.”

The lack of winning is what Hendrick thought would cost his organization in trying to make the Chase. With three weeks left, Kahne had two wins while Busch and Gordon both had one. All three were pretty much battling for the two wild-card spots.

“I thought it was going to take at least two wins to get in,” Hendrick said. “Having Kyle there with Bristol and Richmond, his probably best two tracks, it was looking grim for one of them.

“I’m just glad it worked out. I know the 24 team (of Gordon) is much better than they looked this year and the 5 (of Kahne), at the first of the year we had so many good runs get wiped out.”

Getting all four teams in the Chase not only boosts morale, it should help on the business end. Both Kahne and Earnhardt Jr. have sponsorship unsold for races in 2013.

Hendrick talked as if his organization is well on the its way to selling those races.

“It helps because everybody wants to get into that position,” Hendrick said. “We’ve got a couple of new sponsors—we just signed one (not announced yet) on Kasey’s deal and Junior, we’ve got lots to work with there.

“Definitely getting in the Chase helps you long-term.”

So now that he has all four cars in the Chase, will Hendrick now say he’d be disappointed if one of the four doesn’t win the title? Well, sorta.

“I will be disappointed, but I’m also realistic, too,” Hendrick said. “I really think that we’ve got as good a shot as we’ve ever had and maybe even better.

“Everybody looks so equal. I believe it’s going to come down to a lot of racing luck, staying out of trouble and just being consistent. Hopefully you pit at the right time and you don’t get trapped on pit road.”